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Unearth Comic Archives

King of Swords 4-41

“An Atum that burns particularly bright can actually be seen as an aura or ring of light, sometimes called a halo or animus. In those warriors or sages that have cultivated enough strength, it burns as a physical, smokeless flame across their body. The sage-kings of the First Conquest were said to have golden animus that wreathed their body in flames as bright and hot as molten metal, while leaving their skin and clothing unharmed. YISUN was said to have an aura which is called The Song of Maybe. According to legend, it burned at seven hundred million degrees, and when YISUN let it burn, it was so wide that it turned the tips of the branches of the trees that hold up the corners of creation to ash.”

Although the Machine-priests of Cesh-ten persist in translating this glyph as indicating a transition between activity and inactivity, usage during the Tolod era is more accurately reflected by the declarative; ‘It is ON.’

Most scholars maintain that the slight emphasis is not indicative of any meaningful subtext.

I know this sign and its meaning: the circle of completion, flow or uninterrupted action, broken or interrupted by the stave of command. It is a command, and the command is STAND BY. In this case “STAND BY for a BEATING”. The action awaits continuation or completion – by whom and on whom remains to be seen. I have my popcorn and my pennant blazoned with Allison’s name. It is all I can do, really.

– The Goat of the Greenwoods, who speculates and waits on events in many places such as this.

The word “pretty” in that context is a mind-fuck meant to play down Allison’s strengths and make her feel weak. He’s hedging his words so it sounds like he’s trying to do a pep talk to build her up, as one might do for someone who is a child or weak. (See also his use of “kiddo”.) But the purpose is to make her feel smart for “seeing” through it, and thus feel bad about herself because he “feels” as if he has to “build her up”. It’s a bunch of double-talk.

The “our” in “our training” essentially is Incubus trying to take credit for things she’s done for herself. He’s trying to own part of her by owning her successes. It also tries to make her feel as if she wouldn’t have gotten this far without him, and that without him she might be helpless.

Agreed, this is how manipulative people work their way with words. It was probably put this way by the author so as to be slightly obvious (i.e. it doesn’t sound right to indicate something’s not right), because the way manipulative people say things can be quite imperceptible.

I agree Abbadon’s linework is great, and has gotten better: I think what might be throwing you off, outside personal preference, is the type of strength he’s portraying in her new design.

Allison does not have the typical “superhero” build but is closer to what a female athlete with some serious power training has: she’s obviously bulky with muscle, has bigger shoulders, and her waist/core has thickened to support all that, and she’s still retaining a fairly normal bodyfat distribution over that. It’s difficult to gain a lot of muscle mass without overall weight gain, unless you are in-taking a lot of protein and using steroids.

Look up some pictures of the Olympic boxing champion Clarissa Shields; she has a similar sort o build.

I object to that, Aeon! I will counter that WEALTH is the only real truth there is, for it is something that truly does exist! I held it in my hands! And now that I am without it, even spiders kick me around for sport!

YOU ARE EITHER CERY BRACE OR VERY FOOLISH TO DEBATE RHETORIC WITH AN ANGEL, BEANCOUNTER, A HOLY THORN KNIGHT NO LESS. I MUST EXPRESS MY RESPECT FOR YOU ON THAT MERIT ALONE. I SHALL ALLOW YOU TO ELABORATE ON YOUR POINT, IF YOU SO WISH.

A thing is to be considered “real” (as far as anything can be considered “real” after the perpetual suicide of YISUN) if it is accepted by all to truly exist. All societies – which are representative of the collective will of those who inhabit them – recognize some form of currency, or at least the ones I’ve visited. Therefore, wealth is omniversally true.

Wealth is also the wellspring of all other virtues, for all other virtues can be bought with coin. Strength, for instance, can be bought, in the form of “hired muscle”. In my own case, now that my extreme wealth is no more, my strength has left me as well, for I can no longer afford to repair my orichalcum turbine heart, and I can no longer sear the flesh off of my foes with the molten gold that would seep from any cut in my flesh.

Wealth is not real. Gold and silver are real, but tend to make for weak blades. I would invest in steel or maybe titanium if I were you. Those are materials known to hold strength in themselves.
Though obviously, durability is not the only feature one might look for. Water refreshes, carbohydrates nourish, and wool makes for a nice soft blanket. Focusing on strength alone, you’ll miss out on these qualities.

to be fair, there’s a definite mix between ogling women and ogling men in this. From my own personal viewpoint, this hasn’t been of an ill repute, as both a woman and abnormal in respect to sexuality. I primarily seek to question you on one instance- by what dost thou mean with “Cringe?” Is this the same word applied to minecraft parody videos, or does this take on the more classical meaning?

Ah, but sometimes the bait will slip, and one will be left with a delicious meal instead of a sharp hook in the mouth. Either way, the thrill of the sport can be of great repute and quite glorious to engage in. It is true that the bait is enticed with delicious food, but the hook draws one in almost as much.

Spectator, what exactly is the trouble? I agreed with you overall before, but I haven’t seen anything troublesome in the last few comics. But then, I’m not a gay woman; could you elucidate your concerns?

So…by your logic, the same is true when a display of female flesh is created by a gay woman? Guess I have to stop drawing ladies naked too. Never mind that I need the figure drawing practice.

Listen, I agree that women are often exploited in media created by dudes, but I’ve never been bothered by how they’re portrayed in KSBD. Well, maybe a little bit by 001, but I also found her over the top battle outfit pretty funny.

Meanwhile with Cio and Allison in the last few updates, I was just enjoying the moment of two ladies building their relationship. Which honestly I hope becomes more functional in the future, because I like where Abbadon’s heading with Allison’s exploration of herself. But that’s a whole other essay I could write. Point is, as a queer woman, I’m pretty happy with how things have been in the comic.

Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I thought you were being legit serious. I’ve seen people make a similar argument before, but actually mean it. The recent controversy makes my blood boil, I confess, and I tend to shoot my mouth (fingers in this case?) off impulsively when that happens.

a display of fictional character’s fictional flesh is not automatically sexual leering my absolute rube. People contain a multitude of reasons for the things they do, and sexuality is not the ultimate form of them. Additionally, i can confidently claim that if i was to show a shoulder or something of the ilk, that would be a display of female flesh created by a straight (ish) male. Puzzle that one out my shakespearean fool.

Whatever else he is, he’s ruler of a seventh of the universe. He is greater than Mottom. I look forward to Alison justifying the apparent insanity of interacting with him at all, buddy-buddying with your enemies is fine when they don’t have magic powers, but you really shouldn’t be pal’ing around with Mephistopheles.

She is engaging in this fight from within her dreams. Unless some “if you die in the dream you die in real life” rule applies, this is the perfect time to push her limits in battle against a much stronger opponent without relying on White Chain to save her.

The only thing she has to lose is a chance to spend her dream on less combative things, like checking out the vaults revealed beneath the otherwise solid looking platforms or maybe trying out some void-dust masonry of her own.

And Incubus has ten thousand years of experience in messing around in other peoples’minds. Alison has had about one year of training in angelic martial arts; while that may have strengthened her will considerably, it obvously hasn’t curbed her impulsiveness. She really should learn to think before she acts. Like White Chain said, she relies on her key to protect her – during the fight in the Guilded Cage she received at least two wounds that would have been lethal without the Key – and she doesn’t even really understand how it works. To take on someone who is one of the survivors of the great War is really risky… and yet she has done that before and survived, so her incredible luck (or prophecy at work?) will probably save her.

It seems more likely that he’s come to her, and that’s the point. It’s her playground, she should get to set the rules. And rather than the rules of a brawl, one of those rules could be, ‘I win.’
Allison is acting like someone who only has a hammer. I guess we’ll see if the plot lets her get away with it.

To smile in the Fifth Way is a process known as “Hamilling.” Mandatory practice among the Ominous Traders; if you don’t give the counterparty at least a -hint- of what’s coming you face charges of being Unreasonable.

I get the impression he comes to her regularly in her dreams. After all, we’re being shown what a typical day looks for Alison now, and right before Incubus showed up, there was message ‘Final Lessons’. So, it looks his visits are part of her daily routine now.

Editing error in the Sign of Kings: the word “animus” means 1. “hostility or ill feeling” or 2. “motivation to do something.” (Legal trivia: “animus” is the word lawyers use to describe bigots’ feelings towards people they hate.) When in reference to a glowing ring or halo of light, the proper synonyms starting with the letter “a” are “aureole” or “aura.” You might have confused “animus” with “anima” which can be synonymous with “soul,” “psyche” or “spirit.”

*Inigo Montoya voice* But yeah, animus does not mean what you think it means. 😉

In a world were enlightenment is found through violence, then it makes sense that power can be fueled by hate. You may very well be correct, Preem Ulurhad. This is something I had not considered and I thank you for helping me gain another step towards enlightenment.

yo… as someone with long hair, the second panel looks really unrealistic? like, you can’t tie your hair in a high ponytail at the back by putting one arm in front of you. there just… isn’t enough mobility and even if she could physically do it putting both arms behind her head would be so much easier. now that i’ve noticed this, i feel like it’s something that might be in the comic a few times? i love it and your art style and stuff and am totally aware that she’s literally chilling with angels and demons and stuff but… It’s just not realistic.

She has a key of kings and can literally cut worlds. Also this entire thing takes place in a dreamscape where she’s able to turn into Sailor Moon just by thinking about it. Fixing her hair one-handed is trivial. She probably only used a hand in the first place because it made it easier to focus on how she wanted to look.

Did anyone else notice that Allison’s hair color changed slightly when she morphed her clothes and her anima banner began flaring? It went from white to blue-white. I’m wondering if that’s significant.

And “anima banner” is a term from the Exalted RPG, where the wierdness factor isn’t *quite* as amped up as it is here, but the power factor is about the same (since humans have killed uber-powerful gods in the Exalted setting as well).

Manifesting sportswear, turning dramatically, and shouting is equivalent to cutting off one’s own foot and having it write an autobiography, having the book printed in ten thousand copies, signing each copy in blood from one’s ankle, and then delivering the books (and severed foot) to one’s enemy, who by now is an avid reader or one’s bodily functions and limitations. To this effect, Allison broadcasts her strikes with heavy tomes, and her ankles will bleed for it.